How does the WTA points system actually work?

Iga Światek has long been the "queen of women's tennis." The Polish player has been the world number one since April 4, 2022, and is racking up title after title. Because she's currently the best in the world, she follows big names like Steffi Graf, Martina Navrátilová, and of course, Serena Williams. They, too, once topped the WTA rankings and could therefore call themselves the best in the world. But what exactly is the WTA? What does the abbreviation WTA stand for, and how exactly can you, like Światek and other top players, become the world number one? Sjeng Sports explains it to you in this blog!

Women's Tennis Association

Let's start with where it all began: the WTA. What does the WTA abbreviation actually stand for? It stands for Women's Tennis Association, which was founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King. The WTA followed the example of the ATP (Association Tennis Professionals), which was established earlier for male tennis players. The WTA was founded in the interest of women, and this way, rankings could also be used in women's tennis. This ranking was created to facilitate admission and placement in the various tournaments.

While players popular with the organizers and the public were previously admitted to tournaments more quickly, the process has been more fair since the introduction of the WTA points system in 1975. To this day, the rankings are updated every Monday, except during the four Grand Slam tournaments . Are you at the top of this list? Then you are the so-called world number one, as Swiatek is currently. During the various tournaments, you can collect points for the WTA points system, which allows you to climb the WTA Ranking. The tournaments are divided into various 'categories,' with different points available for each category.

The WTA points system: the points

Depending on the size and prestige of the tournament, the tournament's category is determined at an earlier stage. Unsurprisingly, the higher the category, the more points the tournament winner receives. Most points are awarded at the Grand Slam tournaments, which, along with the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open, are also the most well-known tournaments. The next category is the Premier Mandatory (which includes tournaments in Indian Wells and Madrid), followed by the Premier 5 (including Doha and Rome), Premier (e.g., Adelaide and Dubai), WTA International, and WTA 125K. The further you advance in the tournament, the more points you naturally earn.

Below, we list how many points you can earn per category per round. Depending on the number of participants, you can earn more or fewer points per tournament. In the overview below, we've taken into account the tournaments with the largest possible number of participants.

Grand Slam

• Last 128 – 10 points
• Last 64 – 70 points
• Last 32 - 130 points
• Last 16 – 240 points
• Last 8 – 430 points
• Last 4 – 780 points
• Finalists – 1300 points
• Winner – 2000 points

Prime Minister Mandatory

• Last 128 – 10 points
• Last 64 – 35 points
• Last 32 - 65 points
• Last 16 – 120 points
• Last 8 – 215 points
• Last 4 – 390 points
• Finalists – 650 points
• Winner – 1000 points

Prime Minister 5

• Last 64 – 1 points
• Last 32 - 60 points
• Last 16 – 105 points
• Last 8 – 190 points
• Last 4 – 350 points
• Finalists – 650 points
• Winner – 900 points

Prime Minister

• Last 32 - 30 points
• Last 16 – 55 points
• Last 8 – 100 points
• Last 4 – 185 points
• Finalists – 305 points
• Winner – 470 points

WTA International

• Last 32 - 1 points
• Last 16 – 30 points
• Last 8 – 60 points
• Last 4 – 110 points
• Finalists – 180 points
• Winner – 280 points

WTA 125k

• Last 32 - 8 points
• Last 16 – 15 points
• Last 8 – 29 points
• Last 4 – 57 points
• Finalists – 95 points
• Winner – 160 points

So you see, it's crucial to get far in various tournaments, because the number of points you can earn by winning a round increases rapidly. A player's ranking in the WTA Ranking is based on her best 16 tournaments over the past 52 weeks. To even be ranked and appear in the WTA Ranking, you must have earned points from at least three tournaments or have a total of 10 WTA Ranking points. If you have earned the most points with your best 16 results in various tournaments over the past 52 weeks, you can call yourself number one in the world! At the time of writing, the top five in current women's tennis consists of Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina, and Carolina Garcia.